Concourse Building Details Re-Emerging as EY Tower Progresses

The 1928-built Concourse Building at 120 Adelaide West existed in its original form until 2013, when work began on the disassembly of its Art Deco exterior and demolition of the rest of its structure. The 16-storey building had become functionally obsolete, was virtually unleasable, and as it was sitting on valuable land at the heart of Toronto's Financial Core, had to make way for redevelopment. Its replacement is Oxford Properties' 40-storeyEY Tower, designed byKohn Pederson Fox and WZMH Architects. Now approaching its final height, the Concourse Building's south and east heritage facades are in the final stages of reconstitution as the leading face of the new office tower's first 13 levels.

Concourse Building facades at the EY Tower, image by UT Forum contributor G.L.17

The reconstituted facades count three fewer storeys, but remain as tall as the original building was, now matching the new structure's increased floor heights. The three levels closest to the ground have now been finished in artificial stone—like the original structure—complete with recreated Art Deco details like the stylized mountains that can be seen on the east facade in the image below. (Click on any of the images to see them larger.)

The entrance along Adelaide will soon see its colourful mosaics—designed by Group of Seven artist J.E.H. MacDonald and his son—reinstalled within the rebuilt Romanesque entrance archway. Detailed stonework is already in place.

Above, large panels of pre-assembled brick now cover much of the recreated south and east facades. Between the rows of brick, green metal spandrels feature linear indentations that emphasize the verticality of the building. Modern thermally efficient windows that replicate the heritage design have also been installed. (If you visit the site at the moment, most of the windows on the more prominent south side remain covered by protective tarpaulins as construction continues around them, but the windows are visible on the east facade.)

The upper cornice of the recreated historic facades are now having their formerly faded classic details reinstalled, now deeply colourful again, featuring geometric patterns and ornate gold-painted carvings.

The 900,000 square feet of LEED Platinum Class AAA office space is expected to top off in the coming months, while completion of the redevelopment is currently expected in the Summer 2017.

EY Tower viewed from Bay and King, image by Marcus Mitanis

Additional information and renderings for the EY Tower can be found in our dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or voice your opinion in the comments section provided at the bottom of this page.

EY Tower will be a 900,000 sf LEED Platinum Class AAA building located at 100 Adelaide Street West, between Bay and York Streets. Designed by world renowned architects Kohn Pederson Fox and assisted...